By Tom Lynch
These steel cranes once dominated the Tyneside skyline, and their demolition in the 1930s cast a long shadow over the town where they had stood since the optimism of the Edwardian years.
One of the most exciting shipyard jobs was being a Trolley Boy on the cableways. The lads who operated the trolleys high above the yard were sometimes no more than 14, but to do the job they needed to be not too heavy, have a head for heights, good coordination and the resilience to withstand the weather on a high open moving platform, using electrically powered equipment before most of them had even seen an electric light at home.
To get to work, the Trolley Boys had to climb 100ft ladders in the legs of the cranes to reach the platform where their allotted trolley stood, climb into it and take control. They had operating levers and mechanical friction foot-brakes for sideways travelling and raising/lowering motions, all conveniently arranged.
They manoeuvred their machines over the rail wagons that delivered parts via Palmers’ internal rail network, and transported them over the ship on the building berth, where shipwrights or carpenters below could position and secure them.
Trolley Boys had a unique bird’s-eye view, high above the mighty Tyne. Would any youngsters these days hold such a key role in any industry?
